The present invention relates to connecting two pipes or tubes at their flanges and more particularly to connecting the flanges with the two pipes or tubes clocked or circumferentially angled with respect to each other.
Pipes or tubes are often clamped together at their flanges with couplings that have been used for making fluid joints such as for conducting high temperature and pressure fluids. The flanges are typically male and female with the male flange received within the female flange. The male flange has an inner ring wall received within an outer ring wall of the female flange. An example of such a coupling is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,453 entitled xe2x80x9cLow Profile V-Couplingxe2x80x9d assigned to EGandG Pressure Science, Inc. (Beltsville, Md). In the gas turbine engine industry and in particular in the aircraft gas turbine engine industry many of the connections are made between bent pipes that may have compound bends in the axial, circumferential, and radial directions. Because space is limited and many tubes and pipes are located on outside casings of the engine the relative angular orientation or clocking, as it is referred to in the industry, between the two coupled pipes is very important. To that end clocking tabs or other protrusions have been welded onto one of the flanges and mating slots or holes have been cut through the other flange. The designed clocking of the two pipes is achieved when the tab or protrusion is set in the slot or hole. These clocking features require manufacturing of the tabs and slots and subsequent welding of the tab to its respective flange. This adds expense and time to the manufacturing process and increases cost of the fluid joint and thus it is desirable to be able to clock the male and female flanges relative to each other with clocking features that are is less expensive and less time consuming to manufacture as compared to present designs.
A pipe connection includes a longitudinally extending first pipe portion having an annular first flange at a first distal end of the first pipe and a longitudinally extending second pipe portion having an annular second flange at a second distal end of the second pipe. One of the flanges is a male flange and the other of the flanges is a female flange. The male flange has a ring shaped male wall longitudinally extending from a longitudinally facing flat surface of the male flange. The female flange has a ring shaped female wall longitudinally extending from a longitudinally facing first flat surface of the female flange. The male and female walls are shaped and sized such that the male wall can be received within the female wall. A detent is formed from and in and extending radially from a first one of the walls toward a second one of the walls. A notch extends radially into the second one of the walls and is sized and shaped to receive the detent therein. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the notch is machined part-way into the second one of the walls. The detent may be a dent punched into the first one of the walls. The notch may be cylindrical in shape.
In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, the notch is formed in the male wall and the detent is formed in the female wall. One embodiment of the invention includes a clamp having retaining members with grooves circumscribing at least part of the flanges with the male wall received within the female wall. The grooves and the flanges are tapered.